Study Abroad?

It's been a while since I've posted on this blog, but that doesn't mean I've been slacking on my Japanese studies.  I did struggle a bit with the curriculum that I made for myself, so I revamped it (again).

Right now I'm using a few useful resources for studying, including my SRS, Anki.  I recently discovered a "wikibooks" page for the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) Grammar points, so I'm taking notes and throwing example sentences into Anki.

I'm also just starting out with the "Nihongo sou matome" series to study kanji, vocabulary, grammar, reading, and listening.

Now for the big update: I'm applying to study abroad in Japan for the 2016-2017 school year.  I had one meeting today, and I have another one in a couple days before applications open up on November 1.  I'll have more info on this soon, but if things go well, I'll be returning to Japan for the third year in a row, and I'll be able to stay for more than two months this time around.

That's what I'm going to leave you with, so until next time...

Take care!

Adam
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A New Attitude: Back to Studying Japanese

I've been home from Japan for about a week now, and I have been setting time aside to do some Japanese studying just about every day.  I returned to Anki with fresh, new decks since I unfortunately lost all of my old ones.

Right now, I'm flying through the N5 Vocab deck, and I'm working on the Jalup Beginner 1000 again.  I feel like I should be way further along than this, but I don't mind having a refresher after not having a chance to actually "study" for a few months.  I will say, however, that my listening ability improved quite a bit while I was in Japan, and it's especially noticeable when I'm listening to music.

Anyway, what's new about my attitude this time, you ask?  This is going to sound crazy, but previous times that I've studied Japanese, I was so dedicated that I would study for 3-4 hours a day and eventually burn out.  I wouldn't give myself days off, and my Anki reviews were "everything."

So... my attitude is much more relaxed now.  I'll study on the days that I can, and yes, I know this can be a dangerous mindset, but if I'm too serious, I'll burn out and quit again.  It'll work out alright, and now I have friends that are motivating me to study Japanese more.

But for now, I want to study and not write this post.

See ya!

Adam
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Nearing the End

I can't believe I only have 9 days left with all of Group 6... It's been an amazing summer, and being separated from them during my last week in Japan is seriously going to bum me out. 

We still have a few nights off, another USA Summer Camp session, and a short trip to Kyoto planned before we break apart for a week. 

So, to my team, in order of appearance from right to left...

Ahmed... You're a great guy, and you're crazy around the kids. Keep up the good work at our last camp together! And I'm glad your feet healed up well.

Phoua... You're extremely nice to everyone, and I never took your kindness for granted. You work well with the campers, and they seemed to love doing camp skit with you at the camp we just finished. 

Kao... We're going to have a blast in Gifu, but it's going to be odd not being surrounded by the rest of Squid Squad while we're there. Here's to the last week of the trip!

Hope... You're just awesome! You're easy to talk to and are always approachable, so thanks for being such a strong asset to the team. And I love your symbolism, by the way. 

Amanda, Amanda, Amanda... Thanks for putting up with me through all of these camps and for all of the camp drama. You're seriously one of the coolest girls I've ever met, but that wasn't a surprise since Emilie told me that you're awesome before this trip even started. 

Adam... Okay, maybe I should skip myself...

Sam... I seriously couldn't have imagined Group 6 without you on it. You're one of the coolest guys that I can call my friend, and I'm going to miss you a ton after this trip is done. Maybe we'll have to have a few drinks...or a lot of drinks in Oshkosh or La Crosse sometime!

And to everyone... You made this summer the best one I've ever had. Yes, I loved being in Japan last summer, and there's no replacing my original team, but I at least have two teams to see when I go home in a couple weeks now.

But for now, let's enjoy the time we have together and make our final camp the best one yet.

Squid Squad!

Adam

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A Brief Reunion! The Wheels on the Bus

After the three night home stay, you can imagine how excited I was to be reunited with my team.  However, shortly after meeting at Tokyo Station, I was informed that I would be spending one more night in Tokyo.

"Oh," I said, wondering why.  And is the rest of the team staying in Tokyo, too?

Well, the answer is no.  I found out that I'm actually going to be riding on a bus with 44 campers, so that should be an interesting experience to say the least.  I'll be on the bus with one of the Japanese counselors.

Waving goodbye to my team was difficult, since our reunion was short and bittersweet, but I'll see them all tomorrow when camp begins!

I had a great time exploring Shinjuku today, and I took some pretty neat photos.  I'll be scattering the uploads throughout the next week, since I'll be at camp every day for the next six days, which means that I won't have many, if any, photo opportunities.

Also, I have a presentation due on August 2nd for the final two camps, and tonight is the last main opportunity that I have to work on it.  You "could" call me a procrastinator, BUT you also have to realize that I'm exploring Japan and... no one else on my team completed their presentations, either.  Yeah... I'm just going to get to work on it now.

Chat later,

Adam
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Back to Work! Can't Wait For Kyoto

Well, I had an amazing time off in Japan!  Our last break was eight days, including the three night home stay. Now my team is preparing to reunite for our next summer camp.

So for those of you wondering if I'm actually working this summer, the answer is "Yes, I am."  I just had a week off, that's all.  I will have a few more breaks this summer, though, and it's the last one that I want to talk about briefly.

The seven members of Group 6 will be leaving Tokyo and be going to Kyoto for a few days around August 13th.  This will be the first time that I've ever been outside of the Tokyo area in Japan, and I'm rather excited to ride on the Shinkansen bullet train.

I've wanted to visit Kinkaku-ji, The Golden Pavilion, for years, and I think I might finally get my chance this summer.  If it doesn't work out for some reason, I'm sure I'll still have a good time, but I'll be so happy if I do, in fact, get a chance to see it in person.

And after our break in Kyoto, the group is breaking up into groups of 2-2-2-1 for the last set of camps, and we don't know our groups yet.  Our last two camps are actually through a different organization, and they typically like to have eight counselors from different countries around the world, so I'll have a chance to meet some more interesting people towards the end of the trip.  We'll still teach English to the kids, but if I'm understanding the program correctly, it's going to focus more on diversity and friendship, which will be a nice change after doing four more English camps.

I don't want to overload you with information, so instead I'll promise to write again soon.

Take care,

Adam
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Visiting a Japanese High School

I'm in Saitama for my home stay, and it's the first time I've ever been here.  To be honest, it's so nice to get out of the big cities for a little while and enjoy spending some time in a smaller town.

Today I had the pleasure of visiting a Japanese high school called Inagakuen.  My host mother teaches there, and she showed me around the school.  I was lucky enough to watch some of the kids practice karate, and they were excited to practice their English skills with me.

Even though I'm not at camp right now, I still feel like a counselor sometimes, and that's a good feeling.  Last night, I helped out with a private English lesson briefly, and I'll have the same opportunity tonight with a different student.

My host mother is showing me some interesting Japanese musicians, and I'm now hooked to the song "Dragon Night" by Sekai No Owari.  If I have the opportunity, I might buy one of their CDs.

That's all for now, and as usual, take care!

Adam
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Photos from my trip can be found here: https://instagram.com/atambohmer/

11 PM Curfew? Challenge Accepted

During our first break in Japan, we stayed at a nice hostel called the Tokyo Central Youth Hostel. It was a place with a beautiful view on the 19th floor. However, they also have an 11 PM curfew. That means that you can't get into the hostel between 11 at night and 6 in the morning.

So... Three of us decided that we'd go clubbing in Roppongi and just stay out all night. We left the hostel at 9:30 and found a bar with drinks so expensive that we could only afford one drink. And then... We discovered Ele Tokyo, a club with more expensive drinks, a DJ, and some interesting people that wanted to party...on a Monday night.

After a few hours of partying, we needed a place to stay for the night, so we sang karaoke from 2 in the morning until 5. 

At that point, we planned on taking the subway back to our hostel, but we were ushered into yet another club where we could spend even more money.

Long story short, we got back to the hostel at 8:30 in the morning and did just about nothing the rest of the day.

Moral of the story: if you're going to go clubbing, make sure you have the money to spend because I spent way too much. But it was a great time, and I'd do it again if I had the money for it.

Until next time,

Adam 

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